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MoNHEGAN Island 

MAINE 



A Brief Description of the "Sentinel of New England " 

for All Who Appreciate the Beautiful 

and the Picturesque 



MoNHEGAN Island 

MAINE 



A Brief Description of the "Sentinel of New England " 

for All Who Appreciate the Beautiful 

and the Picturesque 



ClXvwA.>-wL' 



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^artforb pres^ 

The Case, Lockwood & Brainard Company 
1912 



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Copyrighted 191s 

By 

WoLcoTT w. Ellsworth 



6.C!.A81G705 



Monhegan Island is situated off the entrance to 
Penobscot Bay, ten miles south of the Saint George 
Peninsula, and twelve miles east of Booth Bay 
Harbor. It is eighty-four miles northeast of 
Thatcher's Island (Cape Ann), nineteen miles from 
Segum light, and twenty-one miles from Matinicus 
Rock, which lies to the eastward. Monhegan has 
been called the '' Sentinel of New England," and the 
most famous island of this part of the coast. To- • 
day it is the delight of the weary worker, and an 
inspiration to artists. Whoever visits Monhegan 
desires to return. 

This island is in latitude 43° 46' north and in 
longitude 69° 19' west, and is one and three- fourths 
miles long by three-fifths of a mile wide. Monhe- 
gan is remarkable for its variegated surface, rising 
at two points to 160 feet above the sea, combining 
bold features with scenes of woodland loveliness and 
grassy fields. It embraces somewhat over 650 acres, 
the settlement being entirely upon the low western 
or harbor side. A narrow harbor, open at both 
ends, separates Monhegan from her sister island 
Manana. The name of the island is said to be a 



3 



corruption of the Algonquin Menahan (Island), 
hardened to Mun-egoo in the Micmac tongue. It 
has been spelled in many ways. According to Sewell, 
Monhegan first appears in dispatches forwarded by 
Pedro Menendez, Governor of Florida, to the 
Spanish Court. " In July, 1568, the English were 
inhabiting an island in latitude 43"^, eight leagues 
from land, where the Indians were very numerous." 

HOSIER'S RELATION. 

James Rosier, who accompanied George Way- 
mouth to New England in 1605, wrote a narrative 
of the expedition. He wrote in part as follows : 

^' They sighted an island on the 17th of May, 
which they named St. George, but because it blew 
a great gale of wind the sea was very high, and near 
night, not fit to come upon an unknown coast we 
stood off till two o'clock in the morning, being Satur- 
day. ... It appeared a mean high island of 
some six miles in compass. ... At the island 
we laded our ship boat with dry wood of old trees S 

upon the shore side. . . . Our men with a few " 

hooks got above 30 cods and haddocks." 

The Waymouth party made a landing north of 
Monhegan upon an island, one of the Georges, 



5 

spending Sunday there, and held a service of the 
Church of England. A cross was erected to mark 
the spot as a token that the land was claimed for 
England and the Christian faith. Hosier's name is 
perpetuated In the Cape which lies to the northward. 

Samuel de Champlain saw the Island a few days 
later, as appears from his report. He says, " There 
was a vessel six leagues from the harbor which had 
been engaged in fishing. . . . We named the 
Island La Nef." This name was given because of 
the appearance of the island at a distance. 

The two vessels of the Popham expedition in 1607 
also came to anchor under Monhegan, Monday, 
August the sixth. 

In April, 16 14, Captain John Smith arrived on 
the New England coast. He writes: "I chanced 
to arrive at Monahiggan, an Isle of America in 43° 
4' of north latitude. . . . It is a round high 
Isle and close by it is Monanis bet^veen which is a 
small harbor where we rid." The captain called It 
on his map " Bartles." It seems probable that there 
were some white people living here before 1620 and 
that Monhegan continued to possess Inhabitants until 
the Indian war which broke out in 1676. The island 
was a rendezvous for ships of England for quite a 
period. Dermer the explorer was here in 16 19 to 



meet Captain Rocroft. The former made peace 
with the Indians at Plymouth. 

In this connection it might be said that there is 
evidence that Captain Dermer may have carried the 
famous Samoset from Monhegan to Cape Cod eight 
months before the Mayflower arrived. Samoset, 
who exclaimed as he approached the Pilgrims, "Wel- 
come, Englishmen," declared that he was one of the 
lords of Morattigon, " it lying hence a dayes sayle 
with a great wind and five dayes by land." This was 
Monhegan without doubt. 

In the fall of 1622 Mr. Abraham Jennens and 
Lord Sheffield each bought of the Plymouth Council 
lands In New England of the value of £1 10. Under 
this sale Jennens held Monhegan and established a 
plantation. On July 15, 1625, John Brown of New 
Harbor bought land of the Indians, the acknowl- 
edgment of the deed being taken by Abraham Shurt 
of Pemaquid In July, 1626. Shurt bought the 
Island from Jennens, for the proprietors Aldsworth 
and Elbridge. " Here," he said, " was a fishing set- 
tlement which had been temporarily broken up." The 
price was £50. The precision and conciseness of this 
first deed of conveyance of American soil written at 
Pemaquid and the neat formula of acknowledgment 
still adhered to in New England are of interest to 



the jurist. Mr. Shurt has been called the " father 
of American conveyancing." In 1650 Monhegan 
came into the possession of Thomas Elbridge. 

In 1672 eighteen persons from Monhegan joined 
in a petition of the inhabitants of the region east of 
the Kennebec to the General Court of Massachusetts 
requesting it to take them under its care. The new 
county created was called Devon and Monhegan. 

On February 6, 1770, Benjamin Bickford of 
Beverly bought " a certain island Monhegan, four 
leagues distant in the ocean, off Pemaquid, for £160, 
estimated at 400 acres with dwelling house and barn, 
also all interest in a small island, Monehank, 40 
acres." Bickford agreed to sell to Henry Trefeth- 
ren of Kittery, cabinet maker, the isles of Mon- 
hegon for £300. The conveyance was not made till 
February 16, 1790. In 1807 the property was 
divided between Henry Trefethren, Josiah Starling 
and Thomas Horn, the last two being sons-in-law of 
Trefethren. The old Trefethren house was built 
in 1826 and is the oldest house on the island. It is 
well worth a visit. The western portion of it is 
used as an annex to the Albee House. 

In the division of lands between Massachusetts 
and Maine, December 28, 1822, Monhegan, said to 
contain one thousand acres, was allotted to Massa- 



8 

chusetts. The old titles do not appear to have been 
recognized, for on July 23, 1823, the three owners 
paid the commissioners £200 for their interests. 

THE GEOLOGY OF MONHEGAN. 

An interesting article on the Geology of Monhe- 
gan may be found in the December, 1900, number of 
the American Geologist. The article was written by 
E. C. E. Lord. The following quoted from the 
article may be of service : " The valleys are almost at 
right angles to the direction of the ice-flow, which is 
a few degrees east of north. This main movement 
has resulted in the excavation of the channel separat- 
ing the two islands. . . The Monhegan mass as 
a whole consists of a coarse-grained olivine-noryte, 
very rich in feldspar. . . The rock is of grani- 
toid structure and varies from purplish gray to steel 
gray with frequently a greenish tinge. Fissure in- 
trusions are of common occurrence." 

THE TOPOGRAPHY OF MONHEGAN. 

According to the topographic map of the island, 
the highest elevations are a little west of Black Head 
on the northeast and near the summit of White 
Head on the east. These elevations are 160 feet 
above the sea level. Burnt Head rises to nearly 150 



feet above the Atlantic. While not nearly so high, 
Gull Rock, at the southeast corner, presents an 
appearance of sublime desolation and wildness. 
Against this rampart of rock the surges of the At- 
lantic break with tremendous fury, the foam some- 
times being carried over its top. The island de- 
scends more gradually to the sea on the western 
shore, where the cottages and hotels are situated. 
The view from Light House Hill is very fine. 
Mount Washington may be seen occasionally at sun- 
set if one knows where to look for it. 

MONHEGAN ISLAND LIGHT STATION. 

An appropriation was made May 7, 1822, by the 
government for a tower and dwelling to be known 
as the Monhegan Island Light Station. The site 
chosen was upon Lookout Hill, containing two acres 
of land. This site was purchased from Josiah Star- 
ling, December 11, 1822. The lighting apparatus 
was used for the first time, July 2, 1824. The tower 
was razed in 1850 and a new one built. Panes of 
large glass were placed upon the top of the tower, 
and new lamps and clockwork installed. 

A fourth order Fresnel revolving apparatus was 
installed in 1857. A new frame dwelling was 
erected in 1875 and the covered way to the tower 



lO 

rebuilt. The old stone dwelling was demolished in 
1892 and an addition made to the keeper's dwelling. 
The light makes a complete revolution in eight min- 
utes, during which time eight rays pierce the dark- 
ness in every direction, the arms of light making an 
interesting appearance at quite a distance from the 
tower. The lighthouse stands upon an elevation 
of about 150 feet, the light itself being 175 feet 
above the sea. The Monhegan light is called a 
second order white light, visible about 20 miles. 

This is a very important station and for many 
years has been of great service to the coast naviga- 
tion. Two miles and an eighth to the west of Man- 
ana is a whistling buoy which guides vessels en route 
to Rockland and the ports beyond, while a bell buoy 
off the West Duck islands is constantly heard. 

MANANA FOG SIGNAL STATION. 
On August 8, 1854, an appropriation of $3,500 
was made for the construction of a fog signal and 
keeper's dwelling near Monhegan lighthouse. On 
November 21, 1855, a keeper's dwelling and wooden 
tower were erected, and a 2,500 pound bell, rung 
by hand, was installed. In 1856 machinery for oper- 
ating bell was put in. In 1870 a Daboll trumpet was 
installed and in 1876 a steam whistle was used in- 



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stead. In 1877 a first-class DaboU trumpet replaced 
the steam whistle. A brick house was erected in 
1890, and an air compressor installed in 1900. 

Up to April 6, 1876, the two stations were oper- 
ated as one. On March 4, 191 1, $10,000 were 
appropriated for improving the light and fog sig- 
nals at these stations. A contract was lately made 
for the installation of a six-inch compressed air siren 
in place of the first-class Daboll trumpet, and it went 
into operation in 19 12. 

TIDES AT MONHEGAN. 

High tide at the island is fifteen minutes earlier 
than at Portland, Maine, and nine minutes earlier 
than at Booth Bay Harbor. The heighth of the tide 
averages nine feet. The variation of the compass 
is 16 degrees west. 

Local time at Monhegan is 23 minutes faster than 
Eastern Standard time. The sun rises and sets at 
Monhegan in July, August, and September as fol- 
lows in Eastern Time: 

Sun Rises. Sun Sets. 

July 5 4.01 7.22 

15 4.08 7.18 

25 4.18 7.10 



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Sun Rises. 


Sun Sets 


August 


4 


4.27 


6.57 




14 


4.39 


6.44 




24 


4.50 


6.28 


Sept. 


3 


5.02 


6.II 




13 


5.12 


5-53 




23 


5.24 


5.35 




28 


5-30 


5-25 



It was not far to the westward, between Pemaquld 
Light and Monhegan, that the sharp engagement 
between the American brig Enterprise and the British 
brig Boxer took place, September 5, 18 14. Both 
commanders were slain. The Enterprise towed the 
Boxer into Portland. Longfellow has commemo- 
rated the event in " My Lost Youth ": 

'' I remember the sea-fight far away, 
How it thundered o'er the tide! 
And the dead captains, as they lay 
In their graves o'erlooking the tranquil bay. 
Where they in battle died." 

It might be added that the walks over the island 
are surprising both as regards variety and scenic 
beauty. The trip to Gull Rock is one never to be 
forgotten. One needs to visit this wild spot in dif- 
ferent sorts of weather to appreciate it fully. A 



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moonrlse seen from Burnt Head Is one never to be 
forgotten, while walks through the Cathedral Grove 
to Black Head and Pulpit Rock will be efforts well 
worth repeating. The scenic splendors of Monhe- 
gan grov/ on one, so that a month there passes only 
too quickly, and one truly regrets to see the high 
Island growing fainter In the distance as he leaves 
for home. The historic associations of Monhegan 
add vastly to Its general attractions and one may 
spend profitable hours In studying the facts relating 
to the past years of the " Sentinel of New England." 



in 



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LIBRARY OF CONGRESS 



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